How Do You Define Successful Six Sigma Deployments?

Success means differently to different people. But with projects or deployments, I believe there must be some standards to measure success.

Over at BPMInstitute, Marvin Wurtzel of Wurtzel Consulting, Inc. shares some insights into people’s view of success in their Six Sigma deployments. Then he also shares some of the crucial reasons for a deployment to fail.

Most Six Sigma consultants typically define successful deployments in the following way: A successful Six Sigma deployment is one that provides an acceptable return to the business and leaves a stand-alone program, not requiring further consulting resources. I am not aware of a failure by this definition either. But most successful programs may have required some level of assistance once the consulting resources are gone. Most Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts will do what it takes to support the business in this case.

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Here are my suggestions for evaluating sucess in your projects:

1. Check again your objectives, those you had before you started with your deployment.
2. Are the objectives met?
3. If not, have you made adjustments to meet them?
4. Evaluate the team members who worked on the project.
5. Did they accomplish what they were set out to do?
6. Did they learn anything?
7. Evaluate your processes.
8. Do you see an improvement?
9. Do your team and management see the improvement?
10. Is the improvement sustainable?

What about you, how do you define success in your Six Sigma deployments?

Filed under: Team Dynamics, Deployment, Six Sigma

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What Composes your Six Sigma Team?

This is a very important question. The success of the improvement team will depend in part to its composition.

Many say that a good Six Sigma infrastructure should comprise fully trained business leaders, quality leaders, experts, and individuals supporting specific projects in their areas. Others also claim that a person from the shop floor would be a valuable member of the team as he knows the goings-on from below.

There is however a team that is working on Six Sigma efficiency, in fact more than six sigma because they claim only 1 mistake in every 16,000,000 deliveries. This team is not composed of engineers, quality practitioners, finance men, or management gurus.

I’m talking about the Dabbawalas. They collect home-made food and deliver it to the office workers. At first, you might think this task is just a piece of cake. But the Dabbawalas have increaed and so is their service.

And here’s the interesting part: Eighty-five percent of the Dabbawala team is illiterate and 15% is educated upto 8th grade. How does the Dabba team work?

The entire system depends on TEAMWORK and meticulous timing(in fact so meticulous that, during his visit to India, Prince Charles had to fit in with their schedule so as to not disrupt their schedule). In the course of the dabba’s daily journey, a single dabba would change hands 3 to 4 times. Prior to this, they are sorted out for area-wise distribution from the railway station where it was initially delivered. It is interesting to note that each dabba follows a color coded pattern.

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What does this imply? Simply that when you have good solid system in place, people understand it and follow it, then you achieve something great. If I remember correctly, I think it was Peter Drucker who said that 80% of the problem lies in the sytem, and 20% in people.

Related story:
Team Dynamics

Source:
BharatEntrepreneurs.com

*Photo from the article

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Team Dynamics, Deployment, Zero Defects, Six Sigma, Dabbawalas

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What Lean Six Sigma Improvement Teams Should Do

Aside from strong harmonious teamwork, Tony Jacowski also suggests that the Lean Six Sigma implementation team should do the following:

1. Identify the common problems and challenges and focus only on those that are critical to the main process - make use of time-tested Six Sigma tools and techniques such as “Process Charts” that highlight each and every event, functionality, and sub-processes of the given process selected for improvement.
2. Seek input from people such as floor managers, supervisors, process managers, and others who might be having workable knowledge about the given business process. If required, middle and top management can also be requested to provide their valuable input and suggestions.
3. Utilize Six Sigma simulation tools.
4. Encourage creativity and innovation because sometimes only these skills can save a project from certain failure. Constant motivation, guidance, and recognition are good ways of promoting creativity and innovation among the Lean Six Sigma implementation team members.
5. (and if I may add)Sustain the improvement initiative by constantly reviewing data and processes.

Source:
Free Business Articles

*Photo from Stock.Xchng

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Training, Team Dynamics, Six Sigma

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Batelco Continues with Six Sigma

Year 2006 was a banner year for Bahrain Telecommunications Company or Batelco. That was the year when the company invested more than BD50 million ($132.6 million) in the broadband infrastructure, new world class data centers, additional access to the web via a landing station (a first in Bahrain) and investment in Falcon cable systems and additional base stations for improved mobile coverage.

More importantly, that year, too, Batelco went into Six Sigma to improve customer service, product development, billing, and various IT processes aimed at more responsive customer care and a ‘single view’ of the customer.

A couple of years later, Batelco is still at it, and even pursuing vigorously its Six Sigma journey. AME Info reports that Batelco is investing in Six Sigma to achieve business excellence. Specifically, the company will invest in Six Sigma training to achieve its goal. So far, it has completed implemented 17 projects, the result of which has pleased the customers.

In that same article, too, CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos congratulated and rewarded 10 employees who have been certified as Six Sigma Black Belts, following their successful completion of the required professional training, through Juran Institute, USA.

Batelco is definitely on the right track!

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Team Dynamics, Deployment, Telecommunications, Technology, Six Sigma, BATELCO

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Pricewaterhouse-Coopers Deploys Six Sigma

Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) is the world’s largest firm of accountants. I’m sure you know the nature of accountants’ work. It handles data, large figures even, and thus needs precision every step of the way.

What complicates things for PwC is that it has offices in different countries all over the world. How to coordinate all the company’s operations, and succesfully? PwC found the answer in Six Sigma.

Kathy Murray, managing director of infrastructure at PwC, saw MES (meeting and event services) as a prime candidate for the Six Sigma project “because it’s very process-oriented.” Meeting management had been centralized for years; however, Murray says, “individual meeting planners were doing their own thing. It was crying out for consistency.”

The Six Sigma project for MES started in April 2005, and as they say, the rest is history. Below are the improvements.
Process improvements:

• A stronger meeting and event policy
• Better cost avoidance
• Better service

Technology improvements:

• Better record-keeping
• Increased automation
• Improved tracking

Organizational improvements:

• More staff
• Division of tasks

Read how PwC leveraged Six Sigma and got benefitted by it.

Related story:
PricewaterhouseCoopers Deploys Six Sigma for Meetings Policy

*Photo from MorgueFile

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Finance, Team Dynamics, Deployment, Technology, Six Sigma Zone, PricewaterhouseCoopers

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Roadblocks on Six Sigma Teams

Teams drive your Six Sigma deployment. Good teams and brilliant teamwork move your Six Sigma initiative more efficiently.

There are however situations and circumstances that teams encounter problems. This happens for several reasons. Are you in that stage where you feel that your team is not going anywhere? And that you’re trying to see what’s stopping your team from moving forward?

You may be encountering the roadblocks below, and may have yet to discover the solution. Check each one out and its corresponding solution.

Pitfall No.1: Starting a team when you have no data (line graph and pareto chart minimum) indicates you have a problem that cannot be solved using Six Sigma. Without data to guide you, you don’t know who should be on the team, so you end up with different people trying to solve different problems.
Solution: Set the team up for success. (1) Work with data you already have; don’t start a team to collect a bunch of new data. (2) Refine your problem before you let a group of people get in a room to analyze root causes.

Pitfall No.2: Question data. To throw a team off its tracks, some member who doesn’t like the implications of the data will state in a congruent voice that the data is clearly wrong. If you let it, this will derail the team into further data analysis. I know from experience that all data is imperfect. It has been systematically distorted to make the key players look good and to manipulate the reward system, but it is the “systematic” distortion that allows you to use the data anyway.
Solution: Recognizing that this member is operating on gut feel, not data.

Pitfall No.3: Whalebone diagrams. When searching for root causes, if your fishbone diagram turns into a “whalebone” diagram that covers several walls, then your original focus was too broad.
Solution: Go back to your pareto chart. Take the biggest bar down a level to get more specific. Write a new problem statement. Then go back to root cause analysis.

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Source:
ExpressComputer, a Six Sigma Zone featured link

*Photo from Stock.Xchng

Filed under: Team Dynamics, Deployment, Six Sigma References, Six Sigma Zone, Six Sigma

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Lean Six Sigma Culture and Knowledge Transfer

I just got off from management meeting, and this line in this iSixSigma Finance article struck me because that’s what we actually need.

The line goes: Like any organizational change, a company must have a plan in place and communicate the plan in order to evolve from a company simply having expert resources using Lean Six Sigma approaches to actually having a Lean Six Sigma-based culture.

We are not yet into Lean or Six Sigma, but the bold words above ring true. I believe that knowledge transfer or communicating the mission or vision of the company to everyone else in the organization is key to any improvement initiative.

What good is your goal if your employees do not understand it or worse don’t know how to go about achieving that goal?

From the same article, you will learn the basic elements to achieve Lean Six Sigma culture. How to transfer that knowledge goes:

• Determine Knowledge to Transfer: The knowledge to transfer is part of the initial deployment design and must take into account previously existing key skills and knowledge elements. Look for specific analysis tools or project management practices and examples to better fit the environment.
• Building the Integrated Toolbox: If a significant need for integration has been identified, rapidly deploy a team of experts to accomplish the integration.
• Transfer Knowledge: Interactive workshops and coaching sessions designed with many hands-on practice sessions, “teach backs” and real project applications are effective adult learning tools and ensure retention.

Read more…

*Photo from Stock.Xchng

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Team Dynamics, Six Sigma References, iSixSigma, Lean

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National Aviation Services Introduces Six Sigma to Selected Kuwait University Students

The initial project of National Aviation Services Kuwai (NAS) and Kuwait University was to have some students study the high turnaround of employees at NAS.

With the right guidance, the students went down to work. Using the Cause and Effect Approach method the students presented a number of solutions to improve human resource functions and also gave the management a SWOT Analysis with a process map on the way forward.

NAS was so impressed with the work of the students that it decided to sponsor the selected students to a Six Sigma training course.

As a reward NAS will also be sponsoring the students in attending the world renowned Six Sigma Development program. The program that has been developed by Motorola university has been designed to improve business performance and companies all over the world use the program to enhance customer satisfaction, maximize process efficiencies, increase competitive advantage & market share and make savings on operating expenses.

“As a local company that is expanding at a rapid pace, we lay a huge emphasis on corporate social responsibility and this includes encouraging the local youth to pursue exciting careers in the fields of aviation, medicine, IT, engineering and business,” commented Eng. Naji Al-Ajmi, CEO of NAS who was present at the ceremony at which the students were presented with certificates in addition to the Six Sigma Sponsorships to commemorate the completion of their training. “It was a pleasure for us to have these young people in our midst and we are glad they got to learn a little about our business. We will definitely look into their finding and recommendations and we wish them the very best in their endeavors in the future,” he concluded.

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To me the gesture of NAS is commendable. It’s good to start them young so that when these students get out of university, they bring with them the concept of quality and continuous improvement.

Source:
AME Info, a Six Sigma Zone featured link

*Photo from Stock.Xchng

Filed under: Benefits and Savings, Six Sigma Organizations, Human Resource, Training, Team Dynamics

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Raytheon’s Six Sigma^TM Employs Persons with Disabilities

Another featured article of iSixSigma caught my attention. It says, Raytheon helps carve new employment paths for people with disabilities through Six Sigma.

Six Sigma can actually be used to improve processes and find room for employing persons with disabilities. This is such great news!

How does Raytheon Six Sigma^TM do it?

A team of Raytheon Six Sigma(TM) experts used the Raytheon Six Sigma process to validate and prioritize issues, determine root causes of barriers and identify and document optimal system changes and implementation actions required to truly remove barriers for people with disabilities to be competitively employed.

Raytheon’s unique application of Raytheon Six Sigma uses a knowledge-based process to transform culture, maximize customer value and create business growth. Unlike “traditional” Six Sigma applications, Raytheon’s six step process integrates stakeholder analysis, facilitation, high-performance teaming, data-driven tool sets and committed sponsorship to solve problems and foster innovation across many functional business areas. As a direct result of this retreat, the Raytheon Six Sigma experts identified a variety of solutions that can greatly improve the system for employment and support services for people with disabilities.

Read more…

Filed under: Six Sigma Organizations, Human Resource, Team Dynamics, Deployment, Raytheon

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Go Lean or Go Six Sigma?

Last Friday, I attended Neville Clarke-Philippine’s seminar on Empowering Management for a Successful Lean Six Sigma. Armed with theories on Lean and Six Sigma, I went there to accompany two of my colleagues, one of them is our operations manager. I am glad that management had sent three people to a seminar like this, albeit only introductory.

Because the seminar was only an intro to a full-blown trainings on Lean and Six Sigma, I was expecting only to be hearing about the same Lean and Six Sigma insights that I had been reading and even writing about. To my surprise, one thing was made clear to me by the competent seminar facilitator—no other than Neville Clarke’s country manager, Maria Nenita Asuncion Concio.

Here are the things I learned:

• Know the processes of your organizations first.
• Determine what your organization needs to do by listening to the Voice of the Customer. If it needs to simplify processes or structure, going lean may be the way to go. If you need consistency, or you need to reduce variation in your products or outputs, going Six Sigma could be the answer.
• Knowing the need and determining which methodology to adopt is one important step to any improvement initiative.
• Once you know which improvement initiative—may it be Lean or Six Sigma—you need, then you arm yourself with the corresponding tool sets.
• If your organization needs both simplicity and consistency, then Lean Six Sigma may be the answer.
  
• Lean enables Six Sigma quality (reduced inventories, exposes quality issues); Six Sigma quality enables Lean speed (fewer defects means less time spent on reworks. (From Neville Clarke’s notes)
  
• Lean eliminates non-value added steps or waste from the process. (From Six Sigma Institute)
  
• Six Sigma improve quality of value add steps by reducing the variability in the process. (From Six Sigma Institute)
  

Filed under: Lean Six Sigma, Training, Team Dynamics, Six Sigma References, Processes, Neville Clarke, Lean

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